BIBLIOS

Document type
Journal articles

Document subtype
Full paper

Title
Satellite Ocean Colour: Current Status and Future Perspective

Participants in the publication
Vanda Brotas (Author)
Dep. Biologia Vegetal
MARE
Andre Valente (Author)

Summary
Spectrally resolved water-leaving radiances (ocean colour) and inferred chlorophyll\nconcentration are key to studying phytoplankton dynamics at seasonal and interannual\nscales, for a better understanding of the role of phytoplankton in marine\nbiogeochemistry; the global carbon cycle; and the response of marine ecosystems\nto climate variability, change and feedback processes. Ocean colour data also have\na critical role in operational observation systems monitoring coastal eutrophication,\nharmful algal blooms, and sediment plumes. The contiguous ocean-colour record\nreached 21 years in 2018; however, it is comprised of a number of one-off missions\nsuch that creating a consistent time-series of ocean-colour data requires merging of\nthe individual sensors (including MERIS, Aqua-MODIS, SeaWiFS, VIIRS, and OLCI)\nwith differing sensor characteristics, without introducing artefacts. By contrast, the\nnext decade will see consistent observations from operational ocean colour series\nwith sensors of similar design and with a replacement strategy. Also, by 2029 the\nrecord will start to be of sufficient duration to discriminate climate change impacts from\nnatural variability, at least in some regions. This paper describes the current status and\nfuture prospects in the field of ocean colour focusing on large to medium resolution\nobservations of oceans and coastal seas. It reviews the user requirements in terms of\nproducts and uncertainty characteristics and then describes features of current and\nfuture satellite ocean-colour sensors, both operational and innovative. The key role of\nin situ validation and calibration is highlighted as are ground segments that process\nthe data received from the ocean-colour sensors and deliver analysis-ready products\nto end-users. Example applications of the ocean-colour data are presented, focusing\non the climate data record and operational applications including water quality and\nassimilation into numerical models. Current capacity building and training activities\npertinent to ocean colour are described and finally a summary of future perspectives\nis provided.


Institution
FACULDADE DE CIÊNCIAS DA UNIVERSIDADE DE LISBOA

Where published
Frontiers in Marine Science

Publication Identifiers
ISSN - 2296-7745

Publisher
Frontiers Media SA



Document Identifiers
DOI - https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2019.00485
URL - http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2019.00485

Rankings
SCIMAGO Q1 (2017) - 1.225 - Oceanography

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